No Street Corner Name for Biggie

It looks like Operation “Name A Street Corner After Biggie” has hit a roadblock. While many New Yorkers were on board for having the intersection of St. James Place and Fulton Street renamed “Christopher Wallace Way,” there are still people from the late rapper’s very own stomping grounds in Brooklyn who haven’t jumped on the bandwagon.

Huffington Post reported that community board members from a neighborhood in Brooklyn are against honoring B.I.G with a street sign on reasons ranging from his criminal past to his misogynistic lyrics to his weight. According to Huffington Post, one of the board members, Lucy Koteen had this to say about why she thinks Biggie doesn’t deserve the honor:

“He started selling drugs at 12, he was a school dropout at 17, he was arrested for drugs and weapons charge, he was arrested for parole violations, he was arrested in North Carolina for crack cocaine, in 1996 he was again arrested for assault, he had a violent death and physically the man is not exactly a role model for youth…I don’t see how this guy was a role model and frankly it offends me.”

Despite the naysayers, the Huffington Post says the real thing that’s holding up the street naming is that councilwoman Letitia James has yet to issue a letter of support to get things underway. Meanwhile, Leroy McCarthy, the man who started the petition to have the intersection named after Biggie says, “board members should not hold Wallace’s physical appearance nor how he died against him.”

He continued, “There are many artists that share stories in a vernacular that their audiences understand. Biggie used the language from the streets he grew up in to convey what he wanted to say.”

What do you think? Does Biggie still deserve the honor of having a street named after him despite his past? Does his musical and cultural influence outweigh the negativity? Tell us in our poll below.

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